English

Alternative forms

• switcharoo

Noun

switcheroo ‎(plural switcheroos)

1. (informal) A sneaky, unexpected, or clever swap or exchange.
   • 1951 April 30, "Business & Finance: Switcheroo," Time:

     In a corporate merger, it is usually the big company that buys a smaller one. Last week Boston's up & coming Tracerlab, Inc. pulled a switcheroo. Tracerlab, which grossed only $1,700,000 last year, bought the much bigger ($8,000,000 gross) Kelley-Koett Mfg. Co.

   • 1977 April 18, Don McGillivray, "Carter, true to form, pulls the ‘switcheroo’," Montreal Gazette (Canada), p. 22 (retrieved 27 July 2012):

     When you are dealing with American presidents, you always have to watch for the old switcheroo. Lyndon Johnson opposed Barry Goldwater's "extremism" on Vietnam, then proceeded to try to bomb Hanoi back into the stone age. Richard Nixon opposed price and wage controls, until he suddenly adopted them.

   • 2001 Dec. 21, Jesse McKinley, "On Stage and Off," New York Times (retrieved 27 July 2012):

     The Manhattan Theater Club has pulled a switcheroo, delaying a planned production of Gone Home, by John Corwin, and replacing it with Four, by the 26-year-old playwright Christopher Shinn.

Usage notes

• Sometimes used in the expression "the old switcheroo".

Translations